A realization that my lights will outlive me

etc

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I have a number of surefire clones, 95% Malkoffs and some-other-brands mixed in, but mostly Surefire 6P or clones. That is as bulletproof of a combination as you can get. There is nothing to fail on that light. Most of them don't get used. They will be just as fine in 20 years as they are today. If someone doesn't blow them up reversing the cell in it and not all are susceptible to it. I regularly use Malkoff M61L I got in 2009. I expect I will still be using it when it hits 10 years old.

Malkoff M60L in a Surefire 6P has special significance to me, like a bottle of well-aged red wine. It was the EDC light I had on me when the crazy ex filed a false protective order against me one cold November night in 2010 and I was kicked out on the dark streets with nothing more than a wallet, spare clothing and that light, given only 10 minutes to pack up. So I keep it as a special memory. Perhaps I will let it go one day, I decided. Then I will gift it to someone, to someone who genuinely needs one. A symbol of pain will be transformed into a symbol of light.

but lights are not what this post is about. It's about a number of disconnected things that fit together in a loose pattern. It's about life. Lights are an integral part of my life but they don't encompass it.

I am turning forty-three in a month. *sigh* I really need to lose significant weight like 70 to 100 lbs off. Get serious about the gym again. High blood pressure and high intra-ocular pressure as well. I've aged. My son is turning 10 soon. Ten years of parenting.

The last 10 years have been difficult. I had a nasty divorce (is there any other kind) that lasted for 6 years - a custody fight that was a mix of Idiocracy and Stalingrad. Getting married is the single most dangerous thing a man can do today, if it fails. Kind of a dumb idea really but the kids make it worth it. There is nothing better in life than having kids. My single biggest regret is not having kids at the age of 23 instead of 33. Then by the time you are 40, instead of changing diapers, you have kids that are adults.

I like kids but don't like marriage. If I had to do it again, I would have adopted. Yeah, single man. Other people are happy, seemingly, on the outside. Not my fate. A person has a fate attached to them, in middle east they call it kismet that you cannot override.

Don't listen to anyone.

Don't listen to society and common sense and peer pressure. They are all wrong. There is never a good time to have kids, so the sooner the better. Better to get divorced at 30 instead of 40 or 50.

I wonder if my lights will end up at some Saturday morning yard sale for $5 each. God has a sense of humor. They are so reliable they will definitely outlive us.

I wonder if any of them will be still around 100 years from now.
 

StarHalo

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I really need to lose significant weight like 70 to 100 lbs off.

You're not prepared if you're overweight. I can't tell you the number of times I've watched these intensely detailed and laborious prepper videos where they walk you through their multi-thousand-dollar fully-equipped shelter, and the owner looks like they'd have trouble getting up if they fell over. Fully prepared for Soviet zombie ground attack, but not diabetes.. Look into Nutrisystem, be aware the cost mostly replaces the cost of what you're paying for everything you eat now. -2 lbs/week with no exercise, it's so easy that you'll be pretty unhappy that you didn't do it before..

I wonder if my lights will end up at some Saturday morning yard sale for $5 each. God has a sense of humor. They are so reliable they will definitely outlive us.

I wonder if any of them will be still around 100 years from now.

Somebody in 2110 will run across one of your lights on a shelf of knick-knacks in an antique store; a brief reference on the neural noosphere will reveal it's from the time when tools were made from only molecular compounds that could be synthesized from the planet..
 

Crazyeddiethefirst

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Hey Etc,
Loved then opening post. I recently had the realization that my tools, my wood carving tools, my lights and knives will all outlive me. I am 56 and recently was diagnosed as diabetic. Let me congratulate you on recognizing your need to lose weight, that is the first step. In the 6 months since I was diagnosed, I have lost 35 lbs. my secret-stop the high sugar/high fat empty calorie snacks. Then I began substituting one meal for a protein shake one time a day(Costco sells "Gold Standard" protein powder-the best, imho). Star walking daily-if after dark, you get to use you lights-bonus! Good luck!
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Gear is dust in the wind. The sun will also burn out if that's any consolation. The reason why I dislike the concept of shelf queen tools. So another person gets to trash it during actual use rather than myself once entropy has it's way with me. For what possible reason? Brother don't worry about it. Dust in the wind.
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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I am turning forty-three in a month. *sigh* I really need to lose significant weight like 70 to 100 lbs off. Get serious about the gym again. High blood pressure and high intra-ocular pressure as well. I've aged.

Stop your whining. Dang now I gotta kick your a@@. I had bad diabetes and awful BP. I mean fasting blood sugar of 280's with 500's after eating. Blood Pressure 160s/100s or some horror show like that. Resting heart rate of 96. Oh and I am 47 or is that 48. Dang I forget. No 47..... I lost 80 lbs looking to drop the last 20. Did it in two years. In 2014 the diabetic foot pain was so bad I needed a crutch. Now I can backpack run for 20 plus trail miles. Aw heck I don't even feel a 10 mile jog with a pack. Hitting the gym hard these days as well. Today I backpack jogged (literally) up and down a mountain for 5 miles. Then I did 2.25 miles jogging on the gym treadmill. Worked out biceps and triceps after that. Resting heart rate is in the 50-60's. I nearly never get winded these days and done some kinda crazy things to push this. It's a deep well of which I still haven't come to terms with. Fasting blood sugar often 70-90 range. How is that BP?




Stop saying you need to do something and do it. There is no way a total goober like myself can do something you can't. Think about it. You are a persistence hunter and they're not many species who can make such a boast. You can run down a horse or deer. Watch it drop before your feet then kill it with a sharp pointy stick. Now I am not saying to do this but that's exactly what you are. You just temporary forgot.
 

Johnnyh

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Thanks etc! Good children are the greatest thing we leave behind us! I have so much "stuff" that means a lot to me. No other person on this earth will ever appreciate these things as I do. But that's ok. I just enjoy them today. I'm 63 and accepted that my lights, knives, golf putters etc. will probably be of little interest to my heirs. To quote a guy from a golf forum "My only fear is that if something happens to me, my wife will sell all my sh*t for what I told her I paid for it!"
 

etc

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Well thanks for kicking my rear end.

You are my inspiration.

I will hit the gym tomorrow. Just got to find my running shorts. Skipping lunch. Maybe dinner too.

Well, not dinner. I eat salad for dinner.
 
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Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Well thanks for kicking my rear end.

You are my inspiration.

I will hit the gym tomorrow. Just got to find my running shorts.

Take it slow at first but never stop. Raise your heart rate at least 35 minutes a day. Don't drink soda. Slowly but surely make positive changes. Don't worry if there is an occasional two step forward and one step back. Some say it's too hard but I have a friend who at 42 got a stroke because of high BP and blood sugar. Now after a year he is finally able to use a walker and that's not the only person I know. Hold on.....

Always liked the woods but got slack over time. Sometimes worn tool steel needs to be reforged.





Didn't do anything about that till ending up in the ER cuz I couldn't see from the blood sugar. Now that just didn't work for me. As positive results come you will want more. On a side note DO NOT SKIP MEALS. That doesn't work. Only life change works.





 

vadimax

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Well thanks for kicking my rear end.

You are my inspiration.

I will hit the gym tomorrow. Just got to find my running shorts. Skipping lunch. Maybe dinner too.

Well, not dinner. I eat salad for dinner.

As ex-power lifter I say: never skip food. You risk to kill your heart if blood will carry insufficient energy to feed your heart muscle. All you need is to add some physical workout to the equation. First make your body muscles accustomed to some load (not too much), then increase that load (2 or 3 weeks) close to "unbearable" point. Then drop the physical load to a value just a step above the point of beginning (give a rest). Then start to increase the load again. And so on. This "saw" method does give results.

The most hard point is to pick your *** from a sofa ;) But later a feeling of muscles filled with blood reminds sex to some extent :D
 

degarb

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Foolish, foolish man. No married man should own metal flashlights. Only cheap plastic ones that shatter easily. . You are lucky to still be alive!
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Wow.
Damn. You looked just like me now.
It sucked. LOL! I feel your pain. Don't concentrate on the body weight or amount of food. Change what your diet and body weight consists of. Always look for every possible opportunity to make things harder. For example park far way in the lot when going to the market. Always take the stairs etc etc etc. It all adds up. Do not starve yourself as that will just make the situation worse and isn't sustainable anyways.
 

Crazyeddiethefirst

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Please don't skip meals-it has been proven to slow weight loss and make diabetes worse . Protein shake, or any healthy supplemental shake...I concur with those above-make changes at a pace you can keep up with. Test your blood sugar as often as needed until you get a good feel for what causes spikes and what causes drops. After 6 months, I can usually tell what my sugar is within 20 points, but since most the studies I have read point out that abnormally high or low blood sugar can cause cognitive impairment, I still test twice a day regardless. You can do this! I fought having an extra 20-30 pounds for the last 2 decades, yet when I was diagnosed with diabetes, that motivation led me to drop 10 pounds a month until I was where I wanted to be. I am still recovering from a couple surgeries, but once I am back to walking and hiking, I plan to lose 10 more pounds of fat and replace it with muscle. I feel better than I have in a long time. I agree about the awesome blessing that children are, but must add that grandchildren are the absolute best. I have heard it said "Grandchildren are God's gift for not killing your kids when they were teenagers"...
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
Joined
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Messages
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New England woods.
Please don't skip meals-it has been proven to slow weight loss and make diabetes worse . Protein shake, or any healthy supplemental shake...I concur with those above-make changes at a pace you can keep up with. Test your blood sugar as often as needed until you get a good feel for what causes spikes and what causes drops. After 6 months, I can usually tell what my sugar is within 20 points, but since most the studies I have read point out that abnormally high or low blood sugar can cause cognitive impairment, I still test twice a day regardless. You can do this! I fought having an extra 20-30 pounds for the last 2 decades, yet when I was diagnosed with diabetes, that motivation led me to drop 10 pounds a month until I was where I wanted to be. I am still recovering from a couple surgeries, but once I am back to walking and hiking, I plan to lose 10 more pounds of fat and replace it with muscle. I feel better than I have in a long time. I agree about the awesome blessing that children are, but must add that grandchildren are the absolute best. I have heard it said "Grandchildren are God's gift for not killing your kids when they were teenagers"...
97 this am. A1c in the 5s from the 13s without meds. Another downside to skipping meals intentionally is IMHO living things are complex and though calories in and calories out is everything the system doesn't work that way. In the past missed meals and a drastic reduction in calories meant hard times were coming. The body response seems to slow metabolism and increase hunger or at least that was the case for me when I tried that failed methodology. No wonder it fails. Didn't work plus actually made me weaker. Who wants to be weaker? I am going to the gym soon but going to trail run my way there. Yup the gym boarders a trail. Lets see how far it is. Will report back.
 

Dthoreson81

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My personal experience matches yours quite closely. I wish I'd have had children at 23 instead of 33. I got my priorities straight and got my butt to the gym and started eating better about a year ago. Those little ones force a guy to look towards the future for sure.

Advice if you decide to take it:
Drop potatoes, rice, pasta, basically anything that's not fruit, veggies, or proteins.
Eat MORE fat. You heard me. MORE FAT. Our brains are meant to use fat for energy. Not sugars.
Eat more protein. Each meal.
You will feel sluggish and a bit tired for a couple days, but it's worth it. I dropped my bad cholesterol quite a bit in half a year.

LIFT HEAVY. A personal favorite program of mine is called 5x5. It's nothing but compound joint lifts. Bench press, squat, deadlift. All bases covered. Sprint's up a hill once a week for cardio and you're on your way.

Good luck. Sorry to hear about your divorce.
 

Woods Walker

The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
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Today I decided to run to the gym via the woods via roads. The gym boarders a trail system. One side is more wild the other civilized. Running down wider dirt road trail.

Parked miles away.



Go!






It's like Frogger once I leave the dirt road and I feel like the frog.



Parking lot full but I am my own car.



The gym!



Worked out and now getting ready to roll or rather run.



Night run prep.



OMG almost ran over a deer. Naw but could run it down....seriously so can you.



Dang that's bright!



Ran off the dirt road for a side trip to the beavers! Dang that headlamp is bright.



I am back.



28F out and running in shorts. LOL! I didn't even feel it. A big improvement from needing a crutch. We concentrate on gear like the pack and headlamp but those tools would have no use without being able to use them.

 
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